


They Don't Know About Us

by justyrae



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Flirting, Genderswap, Kissing, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-04
Updated: 2014-09-04
Packaged: 2018-02-16 03:36:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2254401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justyrae/pseuds/justyrae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A self-indulgent rival cheerleaders fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Don't Know About Us

**Author's Note:**

> based in large part on [this](http://astorytotellyourfriends.tumblr.com/post/95758169873) tumblr post.
> 
> title from the One Direction song of the same name

It wasn't a good idea, to say the least. Being caught certainly meant the worst for both of them; social suicide was a definite outcome. But that didn't stop either of them - Louis was not the kind of girl who was deterred from doing what she wanted just because someone told her not to.

"All the best things are forbidden, Liam," she'd said one of the times they'd met in secret, two towns over. "It's like, a famous quote, don't you know?"

"I don't think it is," Liam replied with a laugh, though she was racking her brain trying to determine if what Louis said was true. She couldn't ever be sure, because most of what Louis said was made-up - but she was just so _convincing_.

"Totally is. It's definitely been said by someone important. Like Jennifer Lawrence."

"Now I know you're making things up." Liam shook her head, her breath catching when Louis lifted her hand to tuck Liam's curls back behind her ears. Louis bit her bottom lip to hold back a smile and Liam found herself unconsciously licking her own, just in case.

But Louis didn't kiss her; not then, anyway. She let out a giggle before taking Liam's hand in her own and tugging her into the theatre. They'd gone out of their way to see this film together, but Liam was almost positive that she wasn't going to pay attention to anything other than how nice it felt to have Louis' hand tucked inside her own.

The whole issue was absolutely ridiculous when explained aloud; just because Liam and Louis went to two different high schools - that just _happened_ to be rivals - they couldn't possibly be seen together. The fact that they were each the captain of their respective school's cheerleading team probably didn't help the matter.

Liam blames it all on the way Louis looks in her uniform, to be quite honest. She doesn't know how she didn't notice it until now - their senior year - but there was _something_ about the way Louis carried herself at that first game that made Liam stop and forget practically everything except planning how she could get Louis alone.

But she couldn't, was the thing. Not with her fellow cheerleaders around, and most certainly not during the season opener where they were both there to cheer on their respective teams. Liam was properly flustered through the whole game; taking every opportunity she could to sneak looks across the field at Louis, half-hoping that she'd notice.

Louis did notice, but it wasn't like she could do anything about it either. The most she could do - and what she _did_ do - was pull her friend Zayn aside and demand to know if she knew the name of their rival's cheer captain.

"What d'you want to know that for?" Zayn asked suspiciously.

"Know thy enemy, my dear Zayn." Louis rolled her eyes. "Do you know it or not?"

"Liam Payne," Zayn replied with a huff. "Can I go now? We're supposed to be doing the pyramid."

"Shit," Louis breathed out quickly, "yeah, go."

Louis stole another look across the field before leading her squad in a pyramid, feeling a great sense of pride when their team scored. But even that was nothing compared to the fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach when she caught Liam staring at her again.

The first time they properly met was an absolute fluke; they just both happened to be shopping alone at the local mall on the same day. When they looked back on that moment, Louis said it was entirely Liam's fault that they ran into each other. Liam was adamant that if Louis hadn't been standing in the middle of the aisle, none of it would've ever happened.

("Well, lucky I was standing there, isn't it?" Louis retorted for the hundredth time. Liam rolled her eyes and elbowed Louis, who knocked back into Liam before curling into her side.

"Lucky indeed," Liam murmured as she laced their fingers together.)

At the time, Liam was so embarrassed for having practically tackled Louis to the ground - and knocking the wind out of both of them as she landed on top of her - that she ended up pinning Louis to the ground and staring at her in horror.

"Do you _mind_?" Louis demanded with a huff as she tried to shove Liam off of her.

"I-- I'm _so_ sorry," Liam sputtered as she shakily got to her feet, offering her hand to Louis to help her up. "I swear I didn't mean to--"

"Trying to injure the competition, huh?" Louis remarked as she brushed herself off, her eyes twinkling as she eyed Liam up and down. "Didn't peg you for that type of girl."

Liam blushed furiously as she bent down to grab her bag, quickly scooping up the contents with the intent of getting as far away from Louis as she possibly could.

"I'm not-- I didn't--" Liam paused, closing her eyes as she cleared her throat and composed herself. "I was just trying to get by."

"Uh-huh." Louis looked her up and down, making no effort to get out of Liam's way. "I don't know if I can trust you about that."

"What? Why?" Liam squeaked.

"For all I know this is all part of your grand scheme to undermine my team," Louis replied, crossing her arms with a smug look. "You could definitely be plotting my demise even as we speak."

"I'm _not_ ," Liam insisted. "I _swear_ , look--"

"Nope, don't believe you." Louis laughed. "You'll have to buy me a smoothie to prove it."

"I-- what?" Liam blinked. "I have to buy you a smoothie to prove I'm not trying to sabotage you? What sort of logic is that?"

"The sort of logic that gives me a free smoothie, obviously." Louis grinned.

"O-Okay," Liam gulped, "I guess we can do that--"

"Oh, not _here_ ," Louis interrupted. Liam stared at her helplessly, waiting for her to continue. "Well I can't very well be seen with you here, can I?"

"But--" Liam huffed. "You're being seen with me right now."

"Details." Louis waved her hand around before extending it towards Liam. "Give me your phone."

Liam narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"So I can toss it at your head." Louis rolled her eyes. "Just give it, alright?"

Liam hesitantly dug her phone out of her bag and passed it to Louis, who tapped her number into it far faster than Liam had ever managed to type anything in her life. Louis handed it back a moment later and smiled widely at Liam.

"Try not to knock anyone else down," she said as she sidestepped Liam and walked away, leaving Liam fairly flustered and very confused.

As soon as Louis was out of sight, Liam's phone pinged with a new text message and she nearly jumped at the unexpected sound. She stared down at the screen, hardly believing what she was seeing.

_Louis: Tomorrow, Jamba Juice on 8th. Your treat ;)_

Liam bit her lip, fighting back a squeal because she certainly did not need to draw any more attention to herself than she already had. It took her nearly ten minutes to respond - her shaking fingers did not help her lack of ability to text properly in the slightest.

_Liam: c u thereeeeee_

At first, Liam didn't know what to call it; she didn't know if they counted as _dates_ , because half the time it felt like she and Louis didn't say a thing to each other. They'd meet at a cafe, but Louis would insist that they had to sit at separate tables to "keep up appearances". Even then, they'd spend the entire time texting each other and pretending not to notice when one was smiling at the other.

It wasn't until they met up the day before the next game where their schools were matched against one another that Liam did something that changed everything. The fact that she did it completely absentmindedly made no matter - Louis still noticed.

"You're--" Louis laughed softly after they'd paid for their movie tickets - Liam had _insisted_ that she got to pay, since they'd come all this way it _had_ to be a proper date. "You're wearing my school's colors."

"Am I?" Liam frowned down at herself, taking note of her yellow sweater and blue jeans. She hadn't noticed when she'd gotten dressed this morning, but Louis was right. "I didn't--"

"Look at you," Louis smiled as she laughed again, "you traitor."

"Shut up," Liam replied, biting back a smile.

"Might as well be sleeping with the enemy," Louis remarked.

"Trying to," Liam replied without thinking. Her cheeks immediately turned red when Louis turned to look at her with her mouth agape.

"Liam Payne, do my ears deceive me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Liam mumbled as she tugged Louis over to the concession stand and changed the subject to what size popcorn they should get.

Louis didn't bring it up again until they'd settled in their seats towards the back of the theatre, already having thrown several bits of popcorn at Liam with a devilish grin spread across her face. The previews had just begun to play when Liam took the popcorn away from Louis entirely and set it on the floor.

"You're an absolute menace," she grumbled, cracking a smile when Louis tucked her head into the crook of Liam's neck.

"Did you mean it?" Louis asked softly, barely audible over the sounds of the trailer playing on the screen in front of them.

"Mean what?" Liam whispered back.

"The whole 'sleeping with the enemy' thing."

"Which part?" Liam asked. "The sleeping part or that you're the enemy?"

"Both?"

"You're not the enemy, Lou." Liam pressed a kiss to the top of Louis' head and laced their fingers together.

"But you _are_ trying to sleep with me?" Louis grinned, turning her head towards Liam so she could nuzzle her nose against Liam's neck. She let out a sharp breath and her grip around Louis' hand tightened as she pulled away from Louis just enough for them to be able to look at each other.

"I'd settle for a kiss, for now."

Louis smiled as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Liam's, suddenly wishing they weren't in the theatre but rather somewhere that Louis could get her hands on Liam in the way she wanted to. She whined as she pulled away just long enough to get rid of the stupid armrest that separated them, eagerly tugging Liam back against her so they could continue kissing.

As it turned out, Liam was right in thinking that there was no way she was going to concentrate on the film they'd paid to see. She and Louis ended up missing the whole thing; being far too involved in discovering each other's mouths to pay attention to what was happening onscreen.

Before the game the following day, Liam found herself to be unnaturally nervous. She hadn't been nervous like this since the first time she'd cheered in front of a crowd, but she knew the butterflies in her stomach had nothing to do with that. She'd stood in front of her mirror for a good twenty minutes before she left the house; staring not at her face but at her _feet_.

It was a risk, she knew that. Dressing in Louis' school's colors the day before had been accidental - this was on purpose. The stripes on her socks were subtle enough that she hoped no one on her squad would notice, but she knew Louis would. Or, at least she hoped Louis would.

There was no doubt about it - Liam was hopelessly distracted. She kept checking her phone before the game started, even though none of the girls on the squad were allowed to have their phones on them while on the field. Liam thought she was being discreet until her friends Harry and Niall snuck up behind her and nearly grabbed it out of her hands.

"Naughty Liam!" Harry teased as Liam quickly hid her phone from their grabby hands.

"Never thought I'd see the day when Liam Payne started breaking the rules," Niall said as she threw her head back with laughter.

"Shut up," Liam muttered, grateful that they hadn't managed to snag her phone. The last thing she needed was either of them to see her texts from Louis.

"Who're you texting?" Niall asked.

"Nobody," Liam replied quickly, "I was-- I was checking Twitter," she lied.

"You were not," Harry said with a frown. "You're _never_ on Twitter. I know because you've forgotten your password nearly a hundred times."

"I have not," Liam groaned. "Shouldn't you two be warming up or something?"

"Probably," Niall laughed, "but I think I'd rather go hang around the boy's locker room. Try and get a peek at Bressie." She wiggled her eyebrows lewdly and both Harry and Liam groaned.

"Christ, keep it in your skirt, Ni."

"You're one to talk, Harry."

"Both of you, just go away," Liam said, laughing as she pushed them away.

"Aye-aye, _Captain_." Harry mock-saluted her, tugging Niall away as she continued laughing.

Liam decided to check her phone once more before tucking it away, still smiling as she read Louis' text that arrived nearly thirty minutes before.

_Louis: can't wait to see you after. i'll meet you under your bleachers ;)_

Even though her school's team was winning, Liam had never wished for a game to end so quickly. She'd always thought football games were unnecessarily long to begin with, but this was the first time that she'd really had something to look forward to afterwards. She and Louis kept stealing glances at each other from across the field, and it took a great deal of effort on Liam's part to stay focused on actually cheering.

When the final seconds of the game were over and the crowd on their side of the field erupted in cheers, Liam joined them - though for an entirely different reason. Now all she had to do was wait for the crowd to disperse, and somehow manage to give Niall and Harry the slip.

Oddly enough it proved to be easier than she thought, given that Niall was far too wrapped up in getting Harry to accompany her to the victory party - even though Harry kept complaining that Niall was going to ditch her for Bressie the moment they got there.

"Why don't you come along, Li?" Harry asked. "It'll be fun."

"You know me, I'm not much for parties." Liam shook her head. "You go on, congratulate the boys for me."

"Oh, I will." Niall wiggled her eyebrows again and Harry groaned.

"I honestly don't know why we're friends," she muttered as Niall pulled her away; the pair of them bickering lightheartedly all the way to the parking lot.

Liam hovered near the edge of the bleachers, nervously tugging and smoothing out her skirt as she politely smiled at everyone who passed. She was relieved that her parents hadn't chosen to come to the game tonight - there was no way she would've been able to ditch them as easily as she had with Niall and Harry.

Louis didn't appear until nearly everyone else had left, just when Liam was starting to think that she wasn't going to show up at all. Her good mood had just started to waver when Louis came around the corner, leaning casually against the bleachers with a smile on her face. Liam smiled shyly as she approached her, twisting her fingers together to keep from greedily latching onto Louis the moment she was within arm's reach.

"Hi," Louis said softly as she hooked her foot around Liam's ankle, smiling as her eyes wandered down to Liam's socks. "We match."

Liam smiled as she too looked down, smiling even more when she saw that Louis was wearing red socks - the same shade that was on Liam's uniform.

"We do," she replied with a smile as she hesitantly reached out for Louis, breathing a small sigh of relief when Louis wrapped herself up in Liam's embrace.

"That's not all," Louis whispered with a teasing smile. Liam looked down at her in confusion, almost protesting when Louis grabbed her hand and used it to push up her uniform's skirt.

"Lou," she choked out, swallowing harshly. "Are those--"

"Red knickers?" Louis teased. Liam nodded, turning almost the same color as the flimsy lace under her fingers. "Just for you."

Louis let out a soft giggle as she brushed her nose against the underside of Liam's chin, standing on her tip-toes to press their lips together. Liam gripped Louis' waist tightly as they kissed, moaning softly into her mouth when Louis cupped the side of her face.

"Wanna get out of here?" Louis asked breathlessly.

"Yeah," Liam answered. Louis grinned, pecking Liam's lips once more before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the parking lot.

"Will your team be upset you're missing their victory party?" she asked once they'd climbed into her car. Liam shook her head and laughed.

"I doubt they'll even notice I'm not there."

"What a little traitor you are, Miss Liam Payne." Louis grinned wickedly. "Running off with the enemy."

"You're _not_ the enemy, Lou." Liam sighed as she reached for Louis' hand. Louis looked down at their hands, smiling at the sight of the sleeves of their uniforms side-by-side. She looked back at Liam and leaned over the console to kiss her.

"M'not, am I?" she breathed out softly, inches away from Liam's lips. Liam smiled and shook her head.

"Not even a little."

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://imlouisaf.tumblr.com)


End file.
